Does anyone use the SignCraft price guide?

[sardocs]

I think mine might be getting a little out of date....

 

[Notarealsignguy]

I think mine might be getting a little out of date....

Prices are probably higher in yours

 

[sardocs]

I never found it all that helpful. Everything was either way too much or way too little. I just learned to guesstimate what I need to get for the jobs I took on. Sq/ft or sq/in pricing never made any sense to me.

 

[Stacey K]

I have always used it as a "guide" and I like the overhead sheet (FireSprints is better though The vehicles part is pretty close to what is being charged in my area. I use the vehicle prices as a "rough estimate" (with a few changes). Lots of the other prices are off but my pricing guide is set-up pretty much just like this one. I really like how they break down the vehicle pricing and I'm super careful about doing any "rough estimates" - I always make sure to check my guide so I don't forget anything and also it's good for upselling. I like that they have basic, intermediate, complex, pair of doors, secondary copy, license, box truck, tailgate, sizes of banners, etc. - these little reminders are super important not to overlook and I think pricing does go by these basic concepts. You can change the prices but the set-up of the guide has been very helpful to me.

In my price binder I have a copy of the SC prices for each category along with some other online prices and prices of my competitors. If I'm doing an important or large estimate there's no harm in having multiple other prices to compare it to.

 

[DPD]

LINK:

Sign Quote Pro

If you do, do you find the pricing useful at all? What types of things do you quote on it?

Using the calculator, I figured the "Wholesale" price on there was about 10x what we charge at FireSprint.com on several substrates.

I use it for a baseline. I will not use any sign pricing software. I use a spreadsheet that I developed over the years which allows me to set GPM on individual components and add in labor, design, etc. When I started doing that I was amazed at how much $$$ I was leaving on the table. It was an eye-opener.

 

[DPD]

I have just the opposite outcome! When I calculate materials cost, production time, equipment expenses and maintenance, and especially overhead, S365 and my other wholesalers come out to about half the cost from when I used to do it in-house. Not having rent to pay, machines to buy and maintain, inventory to store and manage, and a greatly reduced payroll has dramatically improved my bottom line!

I came to the same conclusion a few years back when I developed my own spreadsheet for calculating pricing. Once design and labor became part of the equation it was crazy to do otherwise than outsource. Then again, I don't own the means of production or have a crew ready to do what S365 does.

 

[Stacey K]

I use it for a baseline. I will not use any sign pricing software. I use a spreadsheet that I developed over the years which allows me to set GPM on individual components and add in labor, design, etc. When I started doing that I was amazed at how much $$$ I was leaving on the table. It was an eye-opener.

yes! I also have a spreadsheet and I like it better than any sign pricing software. It's sooo true, you forget about the small things when doing pricing!

 

[Texas_Signmaker]

I price based on work load.... busier I am the higher the bids go. When I'm slow they drop down.